Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Week 39

Pink, Yellow & White

Don't these blocks say SUMMER?!  I think sorbet & sunshine. :)

#57 - Morning

Oh yeah, this is a sunny summer morning if I EVER saw one!

I struggled with the yellow.  The block in the book uses the same fabric for all the yellow pieces, but I wasn't jazzed about doing that.  I toyed with using different colors, but then realized that I rarely use different prints of the same color in a block so I gave it a try.  Love.  Even the fussy cut center.  In fact, I really like how the blocks look like sisters with one big & one small fussy cut floral.

#37 - Flower Pot

Every decision that went into this block was followed by the thought, "I don't know if this is gonna work".  Yellow pot ... gamble.  The large fussy cut for the pot ... gamble.  Scrappy pinks in the flower ... gamble.

In the immortal words of Kenny Rogers, "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em!  LOL!

O.m.g ... I just grabbed this video off YouTube and now my brain is spinning like a slot machine while I attempt to process that this song came out in 1978.  Nineteen freakin' SEVENTY EIGHT!!!

I feel a chocolate emergency coming on ...

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Week 38

Kay, you're probably getting a little tired of FW catch up.  Sorry.  But now I'm back on track so this is the last set of blocks until next week.  Promise.

To keep with the Valentine's/Birthday theme for this week ...

Pink & White

I am so.in.love with these blocks.  Really.  I love them. 

#35 - Flower Basket

Inspired by the antique silver bowl in this block, I really needed to make this basket pink.  And I was in a silly mood, I guess, but something told me to fussy cut the little posies.  I was just going to do it for the 3 squares in the corners, but then I couldn't stop.  I was a little nervous while putting it together, 'cause it could have looked really stupid.  But it doesn't.  At least to me.  I think it looks sooooo pretty!

I had to move the top triangle a bit so the handle wouldn't cover the flower.  And it reminds me of the kalidescopes I used to play with as a kid.

#47 - Homemaker

When looking for a block to go with Flower Basket, I came across this one.  I nearly passed on it ... AGAIN ... because of the inset seams.  But then I thought:  these inset seams aren't gonna stitch themselves up and are STILL going to be here every time you flip through the book until you MAKE this block so ... what was that phrase? ... oh yeah ... Suck it Up, Princess!  LOL!

And then I thought about the name of the block.  I'm a homemaker (well, to be perfectly honest, I'm a quilter who is frequently annoyed that I have homemaking responsibilities, but never mind that) and I am pink so ... there you go.

It turned out a little wavy on the edges, but I've learned ... from lots & lots of practice ... that I can press just about anything into submission once I sew it into a quilt.

I'm a very happy Farmer's Wife today. :)

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Week 37

Red, Pink, Green, Gray & White

Valentine's Day theme ... of course. :)

#45 - Grape Basket

I don't have any purple in this quilt so I couldn't do grapes.  But I thought a bouquet of red & pink roses - WITH a little bit of greenery - IN an antique silver bowl - would be perfect for today!

Oddly enough, I'm totally diggin' the asymmetry of the flowers.

#106 - Wild Rose & Square

I thought these roses were the perfect compliment to my bouquet. 

I did a little boo boo with this one and forgot to make the corner squares gray the first time around.  Had to redo.  Much better.  Glad I did.  Makes a big difference!

I know you're wondering why I didn't save this post for tomorrow ... you'll see. :)

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Week 36

Red, White & Gray

#69 - Practical Orchard

Whenever I hear the word "orchard" I think "apple".  I don't know why.  There are no apple orchards where I live.  Come to think of it there aren't ANY orchards around here.

And I have no family or holiday association with apple orchards. 

But that's where my brain goes.  So my Practical Orchard symbolizes apples.  Handy that red is my accent color. ;)

And I couldn't resist throwing in a few apple blossoms with the floral gray.

#90 - Storm Signal

This block looks totally different than I thought it would.  But I really like it - especially when I turn it on point. 

I think it's going to play very nicely with the other blocks.

                                   *                    *                    *                  

Well what a great week this has been ... just as long as I don't count the night I had insomnia and thought watching Slumdog Millionaire at 2:30 a.m. was a good idea.  It is listed as a Romantic Drama.  Omg.  Seriously?!  THAT is not my idea of romance.  People if you haven't seen it yet let me warn you like I wasn't ... it is NOT a feel-good movie!!!  I managed 1/2 hr of horrific images before I just couldn't take it anymore.  And then I spent the rest of the night browsing the Comedy section of Netfilx looking for an antidote. 

Aah, but now the weekend is here and sewing can cure just about anything, right?! :)  See ya'll next week.

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Week 35

Blue, Gray & White

You know, I was so smitten (Omg ... "smitten"?  Really?  Who USES that word anymore?!  Makes me sound like I should be using a walker and cranking up the volume on my hearing aid ...)

Let's try that again.

I was so HAPPY with my last set of blue, gray & white blocks I wanted to try that color combo again.  They just looked so different from the rest of my blocks.

#103 Whirlwind

I really really really love this dark blue.  And with the gray? Gorg(ous)!

#88 Star of Hope

Again, loving the big mass of dark blue.  The large square really shows of the print nicely. 

And the gray instead of white background just softens it a bit.  Although I confess to putting a white square in the corner because the other block has white in it too ... my OCD made me do it! ;)

Farmer's wife Quilt Along Week 34

YAY!!! I'm back!  Oh this feels so good. :)

Thank you so much for your all your responses to my request for feedback on my blog banner.  Wow you guys are so nice!  I wasn't expecting so many of you to tell me to do what pleases me.  That is pure generosity and I am totally grateful. 

My favorite comments were ones that suggested I do "the same but different".  So now I'm working on a new banner that you will recognize as me ... for sure ... promise.  It will be the same, but different.  Not sure when it will be ready.  But you'll be the first to know when it's done. :)

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

I have some MAJOR catching up to do here on the farm and beLIEVE me, I've been farming!  I'm going to spend this week showing you (some of) my new FW blocks ... and there are some beauties I tell ya, like today.

Green, Gray & White

#67 - Pine Tree

I live nestled in the foothills of the Great Canadian Rockies.  I suppose I should appreciate the landscape more, but I'm not into rocks & mountains and the indigenous flora that isn't anywhere NEAR my preferred English Cottage look ...

We have an abundance of pine trees and I think almost every other species of tree with needles & cones.  I bet there isn't a single residential street in the city without at least ONE.  Again, I suppose some people would find that charming and romantic.  Not me.  I only like these trees at Christmas time.

However, THIS is the kind of pine tree I can get jiggy with ...

all covered with flowers! :)

#105 - Wild Goose Chase

I had the.hardest.time deciding how to make this block in terms of print/color.  Should I go two-tone? Symmetrical?  Totally scrappy? And all the beautiful and inspiring versions I found on the FWQAL Flickr group didn't make my decision an easier.

But I finally went with these colors, scrapped "the snot" out of the green and I EL-OH-VEE-EE it!

YUM! :) 

(Just so we're clear here I mean yum the color ... not yum the snot.)

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Week 33

Pink & Gray

I think all my FW blocks this month will have gray because, well, I liked last week's blocks so much and I really need to catch up with this color for my quilt.

#40 - Friendship Block

Yeah, this block and I are DEFINITELY friends! :)

 

#80 - Single Wedding Star

Yep.  I totally love pink.

Sorry guys, no funny in me today ... I looked EVERYWHERE for it.

But I got nothin'.  Nada.  Zip.  Zero.  Zilch.

Maybe if I had a glass of wine or something.  Naw, it'll just make me sleepy and then I won't be able to feel the end of my nose.

And then I'll have to pee.

Never mind ... I'll keep lookin'.  Maybe it'll show up tomorrow.

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Week 32

Blue, Gray & White

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary.  Wow.  I wonder what that is in Hollywood years?  ;)

Yes, "we" (meaning me) decided to get married in the winter ... 'cause I really wanted to wear a velvet jacket as part of my wedding dress  ... so I could hide my chubby arms ... not kidding ... 

The color theme was silver & white and my sister-matron-of-honor wore a navy velvet dress.  So in honor of this special day, I made blue, "silver" & white blocks. 

I also chose these blocks specifically for their names.

#89 - Steps to the Altar

This block ended up looking more like a tree to me but ... whatever ... let's go with it.

The church still had a nativity scene set up on the altar and I remember spending the entire ceremony looking at astro-turf bedding in the manger and cotton ball snow on the trees. 

I am SO not even joking about that!  Actual fluorescent green indoor/ outdoor carpeting and cotton balls, carefully placed one by one on the tree branches.  It would have been a great place to be if you wanted to play soccer or suddenly found yourself with a nail-polish removal emergency.  Haha!

Can you imagine?  Trying to be all serious about getting married but mostly concentrating on not bursting out laughing everytime you see a plaster cast baby Jesus with a broken-off finger and an anorexic plastic cow with bony ribs sticking out ...

Dude, it was hilarious.

But my point - and yes I have one - is that I resisted the urge to make these altar steps green in homage to that astro-turf.

#101 Wedding Ring

I love how these blocks look all calm, & soft & wintery & elegant.  Perfect.  Exactly what I was going for. :)

Happy Anniversary, Honey. 

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Week 31

Hello hello!  Hope you had a lovely Christmas.  I've had an amazing few days, but more about that later this week ... or next.

Today I have new FW blocks for you in colors I'm calling "The Kitchen Sink" palette. :)

I've been DYING to make this block - Postage Stamp - since I started this QAL back in June.  This sort of piecing is really one of my all time favorite activities. 

I was going to wait a while longer to make it, for no particular reason, I guess. 

But suddenly I was inspired by a few things ... this image I found at one of my new favorite blogs (well, new to me - she's been around for quite a while!)  Something about the pretty, colorful ornaments on this tree ... I actually get butterflies in my tummy when I look at this photo.  I can't explain it.

And the thought of what Christmas usually looks like - an explosion of color with all the gifts, wrapping paper, decorations, lights, candy ... especially if kids are involved.

So I decided to cut one square from every print I'm using for my FWQAL quilt and found that I had almost enough squares for 2 blocks!

I just threw in a few more whites and voila! 

I have a feeling that when it comes to the final quilt there'll be a few blocks that won't play nicely with the others and won't be allowed to join in.  But I'm sure both these blocks will make the final cut because ...

I ... LOVE ... THEM ... SO ... MUCH!!!  It's sad really ... how much I love them.

So much so that right now I'm totally wanting to make a huge quilt with just these little 3/4" squares. 

Don't think I won't!  In fact, I just might do that with all my scraps at the end of this QAL. 

One of these days I'll show you the quilt I made that ended up with literally thousands of tiny pieces.

You think I'm joking, don't you? 

Dude.  I don't joke about things like that ...

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Week 30

Wait for it ...

Red, White & GREEN! 

Last time ... promise.  ;)

#65 - Peaceful Hours

With a name like that I prob'ly shoulda made this block with blues and/or grays.  But I just kept seeing a wreath so I went with it.

And how perfect is that fussy cut design in the middle?  Doing the happy dance over that one!

#86 - Squash Blossom

I was seriously tempted to use orange fabric for this block.  You know me and my tendency to interpret things literally.  I kept thinking zucchini. 

But since there is no orange in the Flower Sugar fabric lines, I settled for red.

Hmmm ... maybe I shoulda gone with yellow instead.  But at this point I really can't be bothered to remake this block so red it shall stay.

Does anyone happen to know if there is such a thing as a squash with a red blossom?  I might sleep better at night knowing one really does exist.